The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-03-22


the honor Of commanding those who had bought
commissions with their blood. Never during the
whole Of his long career has his tenacitv of pur-
pose been found wanting in anything that
touched the army; in such matters he has
always shown himself indexible, while in all
other things he has, when necessary, been ready
to yield to the force of circumstances. It war
on the lst Of January. 1907. when, crushed at
Jena, Prussia had almost ceased to exist az
an independent nation. that Frederick William
III, who with his family was living in the
poorly-furnished, half-ruined Castle of KGnigs-
burg, gave his third son, Wilhelm. then ten
years of age, the commission OF a subalterE
in the Royal Grenadiers, with the remark: Il
give you this to-day in order that you may
have new suit Of clothes to wear on your next
birthday
seriously i'll that he not expected to recover
At Christmas of 1907 he was commissioned a.
second lieutenant, and at once began to learn
the rudiments of his military duties under the
instruction of Major von Prch In 1909, when
the royal family returned to Berlin. the Prince
entered the city at the head of his company, and
from that time he lived the same life as other
officers OF the regiment Delicate health pre-
vented his going into the field with his father
and brother in 1913, and in June Of that year he
was promoted to a frstheutenancy. Then, in
the following November, after the battle Of Leip-
sic, he was commissioned Captain and ordered
to the front to join his regiment. On the 1st Of
January, 1874 seven years after his entry into the
service and at the age of seventeen ne rode along
side of Marshal Blucher when the Prussian army
crossed the Rhine to invade fair France. At the
battle OF Bar-sur-A r-Aube, where he came under
tre for the first time, he was intrusted with the
reconnaissance of the battlefield, and he did
this with 80 much coolress that his father gave
him the Iron Cross this decoration Is only be-
slowed for military service in campaigns against
Francel. while the Car of Russia bestowed
him the Cross of St George, an order Of which
he is now the oldest living member. Soon after
this he was transferred from the Grenadiers to
the Guards, and entered with the allies into Paris,
an enterprise that he has since twice repeated.
The second time in 1915. after the Belgian
campaign, in which he took active part, winning
majors commission at Waterloo. He did not
remain long in Paris. as his regiment was or
dered to Berlin to participate in the solemn
festivals of victory celebrated in honor of the
successes of the Prussian armies.
Soon after this he began to display that tenac-
ity of purpose where the army is concerned that
has marked him ever since, but his willingness
to yield to circumstances in other things wag
early shown. Deeply in love with the Princess
Eliza Radziwill. he consented, in 1920. after but
brief resistance, to marry Augusta, eldest dsugh-
ter of the Duke of Weimar, and in other polit
cal matters he has often sacrificed his personal
sympathies or repugnances to the exigencies OF
statecraft. In the meantime his promotion was
rapid: in quick succession he became lieutenant
colonel, colonel, general, commander of the First
Division of the Guards, commander of the Third
Army Corps and lieutenantgeneral. Then, on
the death of his father, when his childless broth
er assembled the throne and he was announced as
crown prince, he for the first time began to take
an active part in the domestic politics of Prussia
He placed himself at the head of the Conservative
party, and became leader of the resistance to the
Liberal reforms for which Germany haf been
striving ever since 1915. This rendered him sc
unpopular tba. his rights to the crown were en-,
dangered In 1S48. when the shock of the Feb
ruary revolution in France was felt In Berlin,
and blood flowed in the streets of that town, the
| successful Liberals at once designated the Grown
Prince the person responsible for what had oc-
Cured and in order to save his brothers totter-
| ing throne Wilhelm went for a while into volun-
! tary exile. His absence in England did not calm
! the hostility of his adversaries and they would
only consent to his return after he had given.a a
| solemn pledge of adhesion to the constitution
| which they had wrung from his brother. On his
| return he was sent with army corps to put
| down the insurrection in Baden, and the capitu-
| lation of Rastadt won him the Order of Merit,
decoration more eagerly loneed for by German
| warriors and men of science and of letters than
| the highest grades of any other.
| Ii was now serious hour for Prussia The
revolutionary tempest which was sweeping over
Europe was nowhere, France alone excepted.
more violent than in Germany. In every one Of
the many states and principalities the people
were struggling with their governments for a
| larger measure of liberty. The idea of German
unity seemed on the point of being realized when
! the Parliament of Frankfort offered Frederick
| William ". of Prussia. the imperial crown, and
| which, from fear OF Austria and the rest of Eu-
| rope. he refused to accept His brother William
| approved of this refusal for other reasons; he
considered it humiliat;ng that his family should
! be offered the imperial crown by a popular as
| sembly. He held that kings either received their
authority from God, or won it for themselves by
| victory, and it was as the conquerer of France
| that he himself consented to receive the crowa
| of united Germany in 1871, his coronation in the
! Palace Of Versailles being equivalent to such a
| ceremony on the battlefield
| Frederick William ~, the crowned romantic
! aS ha waS al int N
military matters, and left the entire of the
| organization of the army to his brother, task
| which Wilhelm managed SO successfully that
| his promotion to fsld marshal was fully merit.
| ed. It was about this time when Austria irri-
| tated by the offer of the Frankfort Parliament
seized the first occasion that had presented itself
| to manifest her determination not TO allow
| Prussia any longer to predominste in German
| affairs. The naughty conduct of Austria in the
! Hessian question, as we'll 10 a. OlmutZ, was q
bitter pill for Prussia to swallow but the lesson
was not lost, and she at once began to prepare q
| military organization which would enable her to
! face with safety any new complication that
| might arise. In the West threatening cloud
had made its appearance in the re establishment
| Of the Napoleonc empire. When the war in tho
East broke ont Prussia repelled the advances of
France and England and thus allowed Austria
to take the place in the European concert which
of right belonged to herself. All this con-
trary to the views of Prince Wilhelm, as it was
also contrary to those Of the man who was to be
his principal coadjutor in causing those viewa
to triumph later But Liberalism was then
| too strong in Prussia to be resisted although
| the hour at hand when the Crown
| Prince would have it in his power to check its
| progress.
In 1857. just thirty years ago. the fftieth an
niversary of his entrance into the army was
duly celebrated, but long as had been his con-
nection with the service he did not become its
commander-iu chief until FIVE months later.
Then the mental condition of Frederick William
" forced Wilhelm to accept the regency, and
three years afterward he was Kirg of Prussia.
Those three years were the turning point in the
military history of Germany. Almost the
day when he became Regent Prince Wilheln
called to his side staff of skillfu soldiers to aid